Checking Your Transmission Fluid
Written by Lee Wyatt (last updated May 28, 2010)
One of the first things that I learned about automotive care was the importance of what I like to call "preventive maintenance." This term is very general and describes a list of things that you should check periodically to ensure your car or truck is operating in the proper manner. If you happen to have a car or truck with automatic transmission (which includes most vehicles on the road these days), you should check your transmission fluid.
Materials Needed:
- Transmission fluid (Check owners manual for vehicle specific fluid)
- Funnel
- Owners manual/Repair manual
- Cloths
Turn your engine on and allow it to warm up by letting it run for about 15 minutes. Then turn it off.
Steps:
- Locate. Pop the engine hood on your vehicle and locate the ATF dipstick. It should be located near the back of your engine, but look in either a repair manual or the owner's manual for the specific location. It should look similar to the engine oil dipstick, only smaller.
- Check. Remove the dipstick from its sheath and wipe it clean. The stick may be fairly long and the fluid can stain so be careful as you are removing the stick that you don't splash anything on yourself. After you have wiped the dipstick clean, reinsert it all the way into the sheath and then once again remove it. Look near the tip, and you should see two markings that indicate where the full line is at. One is for hot readings, and the other is for cold.
- Fill. If it is necessary, add some of the appropriate transmission fluid to your vehicle by using a funnel and pouring the fluid through the same location that the dipstick was located. When doing this, only add a little at a time so that you can check periodically to see what the current level is at. Repeat steps 2 and 3 as necessary.
- Clean. Clean up any mess and replace the dipstick.
Author Bio
Lee Wyatt
Contributor of numerous Tips.Net articles, Lee Wyatt is quickly becoming a regular "Jack of all trades." He is currently an independent contractor specializing in writing and editing. Contact him today for all of your writing and editing needs! Click here to contact. Learn more about Lee...
Removing Color Bleed Stains
How many times has this happened to you? You go about doing your laundry as you would any other day. You look through the ...
Discover More
Cleaning Pool Water
Have you ever noticed that there are times that, no matter what you try, you just can't seem to get your pool water ...
Discover More
Difficult Hard Water Stains
If you live in an area that happens to have particularly hard water, then you know just how annoying difficult hard water ...
Discover More
Determining When You Need an Alignment
There are all kinds of ways that the alignment on your car can go out of whack. But how do you know if it has? ...
Discover More
Checking Your Washer Fluid
An often overlooked task in keeping your vehicle in good working condition is to periodically check the window washing ...
Discover More
Fixing Squeaky Door
Not only can it be annoying to find yourself dealing with a squeaky car door, it can also be fairly embarrassing as well. ...
Discover More
Comments